The Bruins announced Tuesday that they have assigned Linus Arnesson, Chris Casto, Austin Czarnik and Frank Vatrano to Providence. The four players were absent from Tuesday’s practice, with Claude Julien declining comment on their status earlier in the day.

In addition to making cuts, the Bruins brought Chris Breen, Ben Sexton and Brandon DeFazio back up from Providence. The three were previously cut from camp, but recalling them means the Bruins will have the trio available for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers.

Recalling players after cutting them in camp isn’t too uncommon, as the Bruins cut Ryan Spooner last fall, brought him up before the end of the preseason and had him on their roster when the season began. It’s unlikely that Breen, Sexton or DeFazio are viable options to make the B’s out of camp, however.

By Ken Laird | Comments Off on Bruins defense a work in progress with season approaching

Zach Trotman

Boston’s top goalie Tuukka Rask made his pre-season debut on Monday night at TD Garden, but his play really wasn’t what Bruins coach Claude Julien had his eye on.

Rather, it was the group of six defensemen who saw action in front of Rask that Julien was watching most intently.

“We’re evaluating more the back end than we were Tuukka,” Julien said. “We’ve got some young D’s here and some spots to fill. Spots to win and spots to lose. So we’re looking closely at those guys on the back end. Some of those goals tonight [Rask] didn’t get much help.”

Boston dropped the final decision to Detroit 3-1, allowing at least two markers that didn’t thrill Julien in regards to his team’s play on that back end.

“That first goal a guy walks right into the slot,” said Julien of the game’s first goal scored by Detroit’s Drew Miller, with Boston’s defensemen Linus Arnesson and Kevan Miller near the crease some distance away.

And the second Detroit goal, with Tomas Jurko getting behind Arnesson and Colin Miller to make it 2-0?

“It was a mix-up there between our two D’s,” said Julien. “We laid it in [on the dump-in] and our right D changed hoping that our left D would go to right to be closer to the bench. Somehow they stayed in the same half of the ice and allowed them that breakaway.”

Without the blue-line services of Dennis Seidenberg for several more weeks and Zdeno Chara for an unknown length of time, some of Julien’s young defensemen will need to raise their game when the season begins a week from this Thursday.

“I think guys are getting used to having more pressure on them on the forecheck,” said Zach Trotman, who logged 18:39 of ice time Monday playing primarily alongside Torey Krug. “Getting used to reads. Getting some chemistry with other players and partners. We’ve gotten to play with each other for a couple games now. You’re going to notice that breakouts are a little cleaner, neutral zone is going to be a little cleaner. And then jumping up in the play and stuff and adjusting to the tweaks we’ve made to our system.”

Those tweaks to the Bruins system are designed to help spark an offense that ranked 22nd in the NHL in goals-per-game (2.55) last season. However, timing is everything in making sure the defense doesn’t suffer.

General manager Peter Chiarelli said Thursday that three players are limited and/or out to start training camp for the Bruins: Milan Lucic, Gregory Campbell and Linus Arnesson.

Lucic is recovering from wrist surgery and had said earlier this week that he would be taking it slow in training camp. Chiarelli confirmed as much, saying that Lucic is ‘a little slow’ to begin camp.

Campbell will not be on the ice when practices begin Friday due to what Chiarelli called ‘some minor mid-core stuff.’

Arnesson, meanwhile, was given Monday’s rookie practice off before leaving Tuesday’s rookie game with a tweaked groin. Chiarelli said Thursday that Arnesson ‘won’t be skating for a little bit.’

“I was pleased with Pastrnak,” Chiarelli said. “There’s only been a couple players that have shown that at these camps over the years. He’s still got a little bit of a ways to go, but I’m very happy with Pastrnak.”

Pastrnak is a right-shot right wing, which the Bruins currently don’t have on their roster. Asked whether he felt Pastrnak could be a longshot candidate to make the Bruins’ roster, Chiarelli noted that Pastrnak still needs to fill out physically, but didn’t rule it out.

“You never know,” Chiarelli. “I don’t want to place too much of a burden on this kid’s shoulders, but he was good. The hesitation that you have is that he’s 170, 173 pounds. He’s wiry strong, but you never know. Speed, skill, sense is all there. It would be nice, but we’ll see.

“He’s young. To throw someone [in] at that age, at that weight, but there’s been guys that have done it.”

As for Arnesson, Chiarelli clarified that the Swedish defenseman will not turn pro this year. Due to transfer rules, Arnesson would be ineligible to play in the AHL this season if he went pro (only the NHL), so he will play in Sweden next season. It is in his contract that he will attend Bruins’ camp and then go back to his Swedish club.

Under the Swedish transfer agreement, Pastrnak, who is Czech but plays in Sweden, can be signed by July 15 in order to attend camp without the Bruins having to pay more money to the federation.

The Bruins announced Sunday that they have signed defenseman Linus Arnesson to an entry-level contract.

Arnesson, 19, was drafted in the second round (60th overall) of the 2013 draft, but was the Bruins’ first pick given that their first-rounder was dealt to the Stars in the team’s trade for Jaromir Jagr during the lockout-shortened 2013 season.

The 6-foot-1, 188 pound Sweden native spent last season playing for Djurgarden of the Allsvenskan league. Arnesson dressed in 44 regular-season games, scoring a goal and adding five assists while posting a plus-two rating. He also played for Team Sweden in the World Juniors.